DUCTION

 Literature is made of language.  In another broad sense, language is made of words and words form chains of sentences.  One may know what the words mean and how they can be used together in meaningful combinations. However, one may or may not be able to express the rules of those combinations – the grammar. But as a user of a language, one can recognize when a group of words makes sense and when it does not. This knowledge of the system makes it possible for one to make sense of the particular combination of words that a text provides.  One has to apply this knowledge of the system of language – its meanings and forms – before a work of literature can come to life.

An individual may experience a story or a poem that one reads differently than the next individual.  This is because a reader brings what he reads to his own background and belief as well as his own knowledge and each one imparts one’s own meaning into what one reads.  However, there are certain rules that a reader must abide by where meaning is concerned.  There are language rules, literary rules and cultural rules which make up the systems of meaning.  Thus, one cannot make what one reads whatever one wants it to mean.  Reading literature actively and critically draws one’s attention to these systems of meaning.

An attentiveness to language in reading literature helps one to anchor on  specific linguistic analysis within the text to focus on linguistic features such as distinctive word orders, choices of vocabulary, patterns of sound and rhythm, and  complexities  of meaning .  These structures of language are clearly visible and present in literature.

The English translated versions of the Quran have been found to contain a rich variety of linguistic features. When one looks closer and give it the same attentiveness to the visibility of the structures of language in its literature, one can experience and perceive its literary value.

When one reads a poem, for example, one first looks at the language used – the words.  When one goes on to analyse a poem, one must consider its subject matter, the poet’s approach to it and the form and style in which the poem is written.  The subject matter and the poet’s approach generally influence his choice of form and style.  If a poet writes about a violent subject, for example, The Tornedo, the poet will tend to use words violent in their meanings and sounds.

Similarly, when one reads the verses of the English translated versions of the Quran by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, one can appreciate the same poetic enjoyment and fulfillment. ln the academic setting, especially at tertiary level Islamic institutions, attempts have been made to incorporate Islam into all courses.  The use of English language translations of the Quran as literary texts would surely be a way of incorporating Islam to a larger extent in a literature classroom in the English language as the medium of instruction.

The majority of Muslims in the world are non-Arabic speakers which indeed makes it a necessity to deal with the Quran in various languages.  The English language, especially, as the world’s major international language would make a good medium for understanding Quranic teachings and thereby helping Muslims spread peace and harmony internationally through their practice of and commitment to Islam.

There is no general consensus on which translations of the meaning of the Quran are the “closest” or best. Each scholar may have his or her own reasons for preferring or rejecting a particular text.

TRANSLATIONS OF THE MEANING OF THE QURAN

According to Ahmad von Denffer, Muslim scholars agree that it is impossible to transfer the meaning of the original Quran word-for-word to another language (Von Denffer,1985:143). Some academicians refer to any translated version of the Quran in any language as translations of the Quran which are actually expressions of words and phrases that convey the meaning of the Quran in other languages.

Muhammad Al-Ghazali and Umar Ubayd Hasanah write that there is a consensus among Muslim scholars that when the Quran is translated into any other language, the translated work cannot convey the Quran’s original and exact meaning (Al-Ghazali and Hasanah, 1991:239). Thus, it is appropriate to call these translated work, translations of the meaning of the Quran in for instance, English, French, and German.  Scholars concur that the original text which was revealed in Arabic is the only book that can be called the Quran.

M. Pickthall opened the foreword section of his book, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran-English language translation of the meaning of the Quran, with these lines:

The aim of this work is to present readers what the world over holds to be the meaning of the words of the Quran and the  nature of  that  Book ……. The Quran cannot be translated (Pickthall, 1963: i).            

 Muhammad Asad writes in his book, The Message of the Quran -English language translation of the meaning of the Quran:

I do not claim to have “translated” the Quran in the   sense in which, say Plato or Shakespeare can be translated.  Unlike any other book, its meaning and its linguistic presentation form one unbreakable whole.  The position of individual words in a sentence, the rhythm and the sound of its phrases and their syntactic construction, the manner in which a metaphor flows almost imperceptibly into a pragmatic statement, the use of acoustic stress not merely in the service of rhetoric but as a means of alluding to unspoken but clearly implied ideas: all this makes the Quran, in the last resort, unique and untranslatable – a fact that has been pointed out by many earlier translators and by all Arab scholars.  But although it is impossible to “reproduce” the Quran as such in any other language, it is nonetheless possible to render its message comprehensible to people who, like most Westerners, do not know Arabic at all or – as is the case with most of the educated non-Arab Muslims – not well enough to find  their  way  through  it unaided (Asad,1980: v).

The translations of the Quran are actually expressions of the meaning of the Quran in other languages.  Although these translations cannot adequately express all the meanings of the Quran carried by the original text, these translations are greatly in need. Since the majority of Muslims in the world are non-Arabic speakers, translations of the meaning of the Quran in other languages serve their purpose of existence. Translations of the meaning of the Quran therefore becomes a practical basis for the spread of Islam to others all over the world.

While choosing a translation, a reader should keep in mind that the original Quran which was written in Arabic, has been revealed as guidance for mankind. A translation is to lead a reader to understand the meaning of the Quran so that one gets the guidance from it. Since the first published English translation of the Quran, about 350 years has passed. Within this period, 40 complete English translations have been published (Khan, 1997:245).

According  to Dr. M.H. Khan , the first complete translation of the Quran was done in Latin by an Englishman, Robert of Ketton. Robert professed that he attempted to undertake this project of translation by “selecting nothing, altering nothing in the sense except for the sake of intelligibility.” He completed this project somewhere between 16th June and 16th July 1643 (Khan, 1997:2).

Dr. Khan also highlighted the first English translation of the Quran was done by a Frenchman, du Ryer. The translation which was lengthily entitled: The Alcoran of Mahomet, translated out of Arabique into French; by the Sieur du Ryer, Lord of Malezair, and Resident for the King of France, at Alexandria. And newly Englished, for the satisfaction of all that desire to look into the Turkish vanities, was printed in London in 1649. Dr. Khan summed up reviewers’ comments of the first English translation of the Quran to be “very far from perfect” and “an indifferent translation of an inadequate version” (Khan, 1997:34).

MUHAMMAD ASAD

Muhammad Asad, formerly known as Leopold Weiss, was born in 1900 in the Polish city of Lvov. In 1958, he went to Switzerland and commenced the translation of the Quran into English. About 5 years of work, Asad published The Message of the Quran in 1964. It was a preliminary, limited edition of part of his complete translation. The complete translation of Asad, the first of about twenty-two years of labour, came out in 1980, published by Dar al-Andalus Limited, Gibraltar.

The features of his book include a page of dedication “for people who think ” and a table of contents which gives both Arabic captions and their English translation of surah, a list of works of references and a foreword explaining the need for a new translation. Arabic text and English rendering are printed in parallel columns while short commentaries appear as footnotes in the translation. A brief introduction to each surah explains the chronological order of it but sometimes goes further to present its inner message. The work includes four useful appendices: “Symbolism and allegory in the Quran, al-Muqattaat, the term and the concept of Jinn, and the night journey” (Khan, 1997:146).

ABDULLAH YUSF ALI

Abdullah Yusuf Ali, also known as Allama Abdullah Yusuf Ali was born on 4th April 1872 in Surat, India. He died on 10th December 1953. Abdullah Yusuf Ali is a well-known figure in the Quranic literature. His English translation of the Quran is so popular that almost every  English speaking Muslim has read it, heard of it or has a copy of it.

The features of his book are that the Arabic text and English translation are printed in parallel columns, series of notes are arranged as commentary on the lower half of the page, and each individual surah starts with a poetical summary. The book starts with a general introduction, poetical introduction and a table of contents. The first edition came out between 1934 and 1937. In all, 93 different editions by Abdullah Yusuf Ali were identified (Khan, 1997:123).

SELECTION OF SURAH

The surah (chapters of the Quran) can be selected randomly from the list of Medinan and Meccan surah. The selection of which verses in which Surah would be suitable to use in the Literature classroom has to be done with much thought and planning. This writer considers these aspects when making the selection:

a)   That the surah is of medium length-not too long or short. This writer has considered the approximate time of one class period to complete the teaching of one medium length surah.

b)   That the surah contains issues interesting and appropriate for the undergraduate level. Familiar issues are important for class participation and adequate points for essay writing.

MEDINAN AND MECCAN SURAH

 The Quran was revealed over a period of twenty-three years. The growth and development of the Muslims during the period of revelation are marked by two great phases:

a)   The period in Mecca, before the Prophet’s migration.

b)   The period in Medina, after the Prophet’s migration.

The knowledge of Meccan and Medinan revelations (or surah) is of great importance to a Muslim.  Altogether there are one hundred and fourteen surah in the Quran. The Meccan phase of revelation lasted about thirteen years from the first revelation up to the Prophet’s migration.  The main themes of the Meccan surah are:

a)   Allah and the oneness of Allah

b)   The Day of Judgement

c)   Righteous conduct

Meccan surah  are usually short. There are eighty-five Meccan surah in the Quran .The Medinan phase lasted about ten years, from the Prophet’s migration up to the death of the Prophet.  The main themes of Medinan surah are:

a)   legislation

b)   rules for social dealings

c)   property and inheritance.

Medinan surah are usually longer than Meccan surah.  There are twenty-nine Medinan surah in the Quran.

CONCLUSION

 A further objective of this paper was to explore and create an awareness of the literary aspects of two versions of the English language translations of the meaning of the Quran mentioned below and consequently possibly using them as literary texts for the teaching of literature in the English language.

This writer has chosen Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s version  because this book, The Holy Quran, has numerous footnotes which provide one with helpful explanations and background information. Furthermore, the English language used in this book is especially appealing to this writer in style—it is considered more poetic than others.

This writer was for a long while not aware of the existence of the other chosen book, The Message of the Quran by Muhammad Asad. When this writer first stumbled across Muhammad Asad’s version, its narrative prosaic style caught this writer’s attention. Personally, this writer felt that it is written in such a way that it was somewhat easier to understand than Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s version and other versions which had been read by this writer. In such a case, this writer further thought that Muhammad Asad’s version would serve well perhaps for younger readers or even for those with less competence in the English language.

The diverse variety of topics found in the Medinan and Meccan surahs makes the possibility and suitability of using it as a literary text that much more. Furthermore, the verses in each surah are rich with linguistic and literary features. These features can be exploited in the English language and Literature classroom as with any other literary text.

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During the last few decades a continuing but significant move has taken place, resulting in less emphasis on teachers and teaching and greater stress on learners and learning.

This article provides an overview of key issues concerning the use of language learning strategies (LLS) in second and foreign language (L2/FL) learning and teaching

Weinstein and Mayer (1986) defined learning strategies (LS) broadly as “behaviours and thoughts that a learner engages in during learning” which are “intended to influence the learner’s encoding process”. Later Mayer (1988) more specifically defined LS as “behaviours of a learner that are intended to influence how the learner processes information”.

A good number of definitions and meanings have been used for Language learning strategies (LLS) by key figures in the field. Tarone (1983) defined a Learning strategy as “an attempt to develop linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in the target language — to incorporate these into one’s interlanguage competence”. Rubin (1987) suggests that Learning strategies “are strategies which contribute to the development of the language system which the learner constructs and affect learning directly”. O’Malley and Chamot (1990) defined Learning Strategies as “the special thoughts or behaviours that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information”. Oxford (1990) views that language learning strategies are the specific actions, behaviours, steps, or techniques that students (often intentionally) use to improve their progress in developing language skills. These strategies can facilitate the internalization, storage, retrieval, or use of the new language. Strategies are tools for the self-directed involvement necessary for developing communicative ability. At the same time, we should note that LLS are distinct from learning styles, which refer more broadly to a learner’s “natural, habitual, and preferred way(s) of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills” Reid (1995), though there appears to be an obvious relationship between one’s language learning style and his or her usual or preferred language learning strategies.

There are a number of basic characteristics in the generally accepted view of LLS.

• First, LLS are learner generated; they are steps taken by language learners.

• Second, LLS enhance language learning and help develop language competence, as reflected in the learner’s skills in listening, speaking, reading, or writing the L2 or FL.

• Third, LLS may be visible (behaviours, steps, techniques, etc.) or unseen (thoughts, mental processes).

Cohen (1990) insists that only conscious strategies are LLS, and that there must be a choice involved on the part of the learner. Transfer of a strategy from one language or language skill to another is a related goal of LLS, as Pearson (1988) and Skehan (1989) have discussed. In her teacher-oriented text, Oxford summarises her view of LLS by listing twelve key features. In addition to the characteristics noted above, Skehan states that LLS:

• allow learners to become more self-directed

• expand the role of language teachers

• are problem-oriented

• involve many aspects, not just the cognitive

• can be taught

• are flexible

• are influenced by a variety of factors

Within ‘communicative’ approaches to language teaching a key goal is for the learner to develop communicative competence in the target L2/FL, and LLS can help students in doing so. Communication strategies are used by speakers intentionally and consciously in order to cope with difficulties in communicating in a L2/FL.

In addition to developing students’ communicative competence, LLS are important because research suggests that training students to use LLS can help them become better language learners. Early research on ‘good language learners’ by Naiman, Frohlich, Stern, and Todesco (1978, 1996), Rubin (1975), and Stern (1975) suggested a number of positive strategies that such students employ, ranging from using an active task approach in and monitoring one’s L2/FL performance to listening to the radio in the L2/FL and speaking with native speakers.

A study by O’Malley and Chamot (1990) also suggests that effective L2/FL learners are aware of the LLS they use and why they use them. Graham’s (1997) work in French further indicates that L2/FL teachers can help students understand good LLS and should train them to develop and use them.

With the above background on Learning Strategies and some of the related literature, this section provides an overview of how LLS and LLS training have been or may be used in the classroom, and briefly describes a three step approach to implementing LLS training in the L2/FL classroom.

LLS and LLS training may be integrated into a variety of classes for L2/FL students. One type of course that appears to be becoming more popular, especially in intensive English programmes, is one focusing on the language learning process itself.

It is crucial for teachers to study their teaching context, paying special attention to their students, their materials, and their own teaching. If they are going to train their students in using LLS, it is crucial to know something about these individuals, their interests, motivations, learning styles, etc. By observing their behaviour in class, for example, one will be able to see what LLS they already appear to be using. Do they often ask for clarification, verification, or correction, as discussed briefly above? Do they co-operate with their peers or seem to have much contact outside of class with proficient L2/FL users? Beyond observation, however, one can prepare a short questionnaire that students can fill in at the beginning of a course, describing themselves and their language learning.

Talking to students informally before or after class, or more formally interviewing select students about these topics can also provide a lot of information about one’s students, their goals, motivations, and LLS, and their understanding of the particular course being taught.

Beyond the students, however, one’s teaching materials are also important in considering LLS and LLS training. Textbooks, for example, should be analyzed to see whether they already include LLS or LLS training. Working with other language, learner improves their listening and speaking skills. Audiotapes, videotapes, hand-outs, and other materials for the course at hand should also be examined for LLS or for specific ways that LLS training might be implemented in using them. Perhaps teachers will be surprised to find many LLS incorporated into their materials, with more possibilities than they had imagined. If not, they might look for new texts or other teaching materials that do provide such opportunities.

After teachers have studied their teaching context, begin to focus on specific LLS in their regular teaching that are relevant to learners, materials, and teaching style. If teachers have found 10 different LLS for writing explicitly used in your text, for example, they could highlight these as they go through the course, giving students clear examples.

Graham (1997) declares, LLS training “needs to be integrated into students’ regular classes if they are going to appreciate their relevance for language learning tasks; students need to constantly monitor and evaluate the strategies they develop and use; and they need to be aware of the nature, function and importance of such strategies” . Whether it is a specific conversation, reading, writing, or other class, an organized and informed focus on LLS and LLS training will help students learn and provide more opportunities for them to take responsibility for their learning.

As Graham suggests, “those teachers who have thought carefully about how they learned a language, about which strategies are most appropriate for which tasks, are more likely to be successful in developing ’strategic competence’ in their students” (p. 170). Beyond contemplating one’s own language learning, it is also crucial to reflect on one’s LLS training and teaching in the classroom. After each class, for example, one might ponder the effectiveness of the lesson and the role of LLS and LLS training within it. An informal log of such reflections and one’s personal assessment of the class, either in a notebook or on the actual lesson plans, might be used later to reflect on LLS training in the course as a whole after its completion.

In addition to the teacher’s own reflections, it is essential to encourage learner reflection, both during and after the LLS training in the class or course.

In an interesting action research study involving “guided reflection” As Graham (170) declares, “For learners, a vital component of self-directed learning lies in the on-going evaluation of the methods, they have employed on tasks and of their achievements within the…programme” Whatever the context or method, it is important for L2/FL learners to have the chance to reflect on their language learning and LLS use.

The first, and most important, concerns the professionalism of teachers who use LLS and LLS training in their work. As Davis (1997) has aptly noted, “our actions speak louder than words”, and it is therefore important for professionals who use LLS training to also model such strategies both within their classroom teaching and, especially in EFL contexts, in their own FL learning. Furthermore, LLS obviously involve individuals’ unique cognitive, social, and affective learning styles and strategies. As an educator I am interested in helping my students learn and reflect on their learning, but I also question the tone and motivation reflected in some of the LLS literature. Oxford (1990a), for example, seems to describe many of my Japanese EFL students when she writes:

Motivation is a key concern both for teachers and students. Yet while teachers hope to motivate our students and enhance their learning, professionally we must be very clear not to manipulate them in the process, recognising that ultimately learning is the student’s responsibility. If our teaching is appropriate and learner-centred, we will not manipulate our students as we encourage them to develop and use their own LLS. Instead we will take learners’ motivations and learning styles into account as we teach in order for them to improve their L2/FL skills and LLS.

The second reflection pertains to the integration of LLS into both language learning/teaching theory and curriculum. The focus of this article is largely practical, noting why LLS are useful and how they can or might be included in regular L2/FL classes.

The related challenge, is how to integrate LLS into our L2/FL curriculum, especially in places like Bangladesh where “learner-centred” approaches or materials may not be implemented very easily. Using texts which incorporate LLS training, such as those in the Tapestry series, remains difficult in FL contexts when they are mainly oriented to L2 ones. Many FL teachers include LLS and LLS training in the FL curriculum of their regular, everyday language (as opposed to content) classes. This final point brings us to this and other questions for future LLS research.

The article has provided a brief overview of Language Learning Strategies (LLS) by examining their background and summarizing the relevant literature. It has also sketched out some ways that LLS training has been used and offered a three step approach for teachers to consider in implementing it within their own L2/FL classes. It has also upheld two important issues, posed questions for further LLS study, and noted a number of contacts that readers may use in networking on LLS in L2/FL education.

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The history of sign language is littered with shocking events. At several points in history, some not long ago, deaf people were strongly oppressed. At one point, they were even denied their basic rights. How their language, sign language, was treated during these oppressive times is directly related to why the deaf place such a high value on sign language today.

The first person to make a claim about deaf people was Aristotle. He theorized that people are only able to learn by hearing spoken words. Deaf people, then, were seen as unable to be educated.

Deaf people were denied their basic rights because of this claim. They weren’t allowed to marry or own property. The law actually labeled them as “non-persons.”

During the Renaissance in Europe, the claim was finally challenged. After 2,000 years of believing that deaf people couldn’t be educated, scholars made their first attempts to educate deaf people. This point in the Deaf history was the beginning of signed language development.

The Beginning of Deaf Education

An Italian Physician named Geronimo Cardano recognized that to learn, you do not have to hear. He found that by using the written word, deaf people could be educated.

In Spain, Pedro Ponce de Leon around the same time was educating deaf children. He was a Benedictine monk and was successful with his methods of teaching.

Juan Pablo de Bonet was inspired by Pedro Ponce de Leon’s success and used his own methods to teach the deaf. He was a Spanish monk and used earlier methods of teaching the deaf that included writing, reading, speechreading, and his own manual alphabet. Juan Pablo de Bonet’s manual alphabet represented the different speech sounds and was the first known manual alphabet system in the history of sign language.

Until the 1750’s, organized education of deaf people did not exist. Established in Paris by Abbé Charles Michel de L’Epée, a French priest, was the first social and religious association for the deaf.

There is a popular story that has been retold throughout Deaf history about Abbé de L’Epée. The story claims that while L’Epée was visiting a poor part of Paris, he met two deaf sisters. The mother had wanted them educated in religion, and she wanted L’Epée to teach them. L’Epée was inspired to educate them after he discovered their deafness. Soon after this encounter, he devoted his life completely to the education of the deaf.

In 1771, Abbé de L’Epée founded the first public school for the deaf. The name of the school was the Institut National des Jeune Sourds-Muets (National Institute for Deaf-Mutes). Children travelled from all over the country to attend this school. The children who attended the institute had been signing at home and creating a sort of “home sign language” with their families. Abbé de L’Epée learned these home signs and used them to teach the children French.

The signs L’Epée learned from his students formed the standard sign language that L’Epée taught. More schools for the deaf were established and the children were bringing this standard language home to their communities. This standard language became the first standard signed language in Deaf history and is now known as Old French Sign Language. More and more deaf students were becoming educated so this standard language spread widely throughout Europe.

Abbé de L’Epée established twenty-one schools for the deaf and is known today as the “Father of Sign Language and Deaf Education.”

Abbé de L’Epée is also often credited with being the inventor of sign language. This is inaccurate. Sign language was invented by deaf people. Even before they were formally educated, deaf children were signing with their families using home made signs. However, Abbé de L’Epée was the first to bring together these signs and create a standard sign language to educate the deaf.

Abbé de L’Epée claimed that sign language was the natural language of the deaf. However, a German educator named Samuel Heinicke thought different. He supported the oral method of educating deaf children. Oralism is the term used for educating the deaf using a system of speech and speechreading instead of sign language and fingerspelling. Samuel Heinicke taught his students how to speak, not sign. While he spoke, he had his students feel the vibrations of his throat.

Oralism was the first major roadblock after all of the positive advancements with the history of sign language. Abbé de L’Epée is known as the “Father of Sign Language” and Samuel Heinicke is known as the “Father of Oralism.”

American Sign Language

American Sign Language is traced back to 1814. Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a minister from Hartford, Connecticut, had a neighbor named Mason Fitch Cogswell. Cogswell had a nine-year-old daughter named Alice who was deaf. Gallaudet met Alice and Gallaudet wanted to teach her how to communicate.

Gallaudet did not really know anything about educating a deaf child. So, he raised enough money to travel to Europe to learn their methods of deaf education.

Gallaudet met Abbé Roche Ambroise Sicard who was Abbé de L’Epée’s successor and the head of the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Paris. Gallaudet also met Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc, two accomplished teachers of the deaf from the same institution.

Gallaudet attended classes with Sicard, Massieu, and Clerc at the Institute. He studied their methods of teaching and took private lessons from Clerc.

Preparing to return to America, Gallaudet asked Clerc to join him. He knew that Clerc would be instrumental in starting a school for the deaf in the United States. Clerc agreed to travel with him back to America.

The American Asylum for Deaf-Mutes (now known as the American School for the Deaf) was established in 1817 in Hartford, Connecticut. This was the first public school for the deaf in America.

Deaf people from all over the U.S. travelled to attend the school. Just like at Abbé de L’Epée’s school in Paris, children brought signs they learned at home with them. From these signs and the signs from French Sign Language that Gallaudet learned, American Sign Language was created.

A Deaf College

In 1851, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet died. However, his two sons, Thomas Gallaudet and Edward Miner Gallaudet succeeded him and continued work in deaf education.

Edward wanted to establish a college for the deaf, but the funding always stopped him. In 1857, though, Amos Kendall donated acres of land to establish a residential school in Washington, D.C. called the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind and wanted Edward to be the superintendent of the school.

Edward accepted the offer, but still wanted to start a college for the deaf. So, he presented his idea for a deaf college to Congress and Congress passed legislation in 1864 allowing the Columbia Institute to grant college degrees.

The Columbia Institute’s college division (the National Deaf-Mute College) opened in 1864. In all of Deaf history, this was the first college for the deaf.

The National Deaf-Mute College was renamed in 1893 and again in 1986 to the name it still has today-Gallaudet University. Gallaudet University was the first and is still the only liberal arts university for the deaf in the world.

Oralism versus Sign Language

Sign language was spreading widely and was used by both deaf and hearing people. However, supporters of oralism believe that deaf people need to learn how to speak to be able to function in society.

The Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-Mutes was founded in New York in 1867 and the Clarke Institution for Deaf-Mutes was founded in Northampton, Massachusetts. These schools began educating deaf children using oralism only. If that wasn’t bad enough, these schools encouraged all deaf schools to use only the oralism approach as well. The oralist methods of teaching speech, listening, and speechreading spread quickly to schools across the nation.

Alexander Graham Bell was one of the strongest supporters of oralism. In 1872, he established a school in Boston. This school trained teachers to use oralism to teach deaf children.

Bell established the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, Inc. in 1890. This association is now called the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.

From 1880 to 1990, the sign language versus oralism debate intensified. Meeting in Milan, Italy in 1880, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf met to address this issue. Many leaders in education attended this conference that is now known as the Milan Conference.

Oralism won the debate at this conference and Congress then passed a declaration stating “the incontestable superiority of speech over sign for integrating the deaf-mute into society and for giving him better command of the language.”

Because of this conference, the use of sign language in deaf education declined drastically over the next decade. Some oralism activists wanted to eradicate sign language completely.

By 1920, 80% of deaf children were taught using the oral method. Teachers of deaf children were once 40% deaf and 60% hearing. By the 1860’s, only 15% of teachers of the deaf were deaf.

Outside of the classroom, however, sign language was still widely used. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was established in the U.S. and supported the sign language method of deaf education. The NAD argued against oralism saying that it is not the right choice for the education of many deaf people. They gained support and kept the use of sign language alive during this time.

Amid this great debate, William Stokoe, a hearing Gallaudet College professor, published his claim that proved American Sign Language is a real language. He proved that ASL is a language separate from English and that it has its own grammar and syntax.

American Sign Language was then finally seen as an important national language.

Congress issued the Babbidge Report in 1964 on oral deaf education that stated oral education was a “dismal failure.” This quote dismissed the decision that was made in Milan.

In 1970, a movement began that did not choose between signed or oral education. The movement was called Total Communication and attempted to mix several methods of deaf education. Total Communication gave deaf people the right to information through all possible ways. This method of teaching can include speech, sign language, fingerspelling, lipreading, pantomime, computers, pictures, facial expressions, gestures, writing, hearing aid devices, and reading.

The changes that have occurred throughout the history of sign language makes sign language and the lives of deaf people what they are today. Deaf people have experienced great hardships as well as great achievements to bring sign language, the language of the Deaf, the respect that it deserves.

Islam and language have a similar structure. That is what I have come up with after roughly  twenty years of observation.

Language is innate. You can speak it as you live; you do not really learn it. And Islam, too, is the religion of “fitra”(the innate mind) : The leaning towards religiosity has proved to be a matter of genes; it is innate.

And my conclusions so far are :



1. The Chomskyan theories(of linguist Pr. Noam Chomsky) can help extract a generative-and-transformational (2) model or entity from the holy Koran, which I have carried out.

2. Language is libertarian according to Chomsky and other “nativist” (believing in the innate mind) researchers. Islam is libertarian in its essence, too, but so far it has been confined, by propaganda and flawed tradition, to right-wing politics. As language has proved to be akin to Islam, it should then help us re-position Islam in a bid to put it on a safer track; on its genuine track: Left politics.



3.The Koranic model or entity I have extracted  by means of linguistic tools should, therefore and so to speak, help us reproduce a novel religious discourse liable to enhance the quality and message of mosque sermons, to open Islamic lecturing on Muslims’ real life, to make dawah and tabligh ( spreading the good spell of Allah, that is) more enjoyable and challenging to  mainstream believers, as well as to Muslims-to-be. Generative and transformational, is it not?

4. A” novel discourse” signifies you are going to reconstruct the language of Muslims itself, be it Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Indonesian or other language spoken by people intent on speaking out their Islam away from anarchism, strong-headedness, short-sightedness, cross-mindedness, fanaticism or  arbitrary behavior and thought. Here you are back to language. And without doubt you are going to encroach upon many a territory, apart from that of religious education or that of language acquisition…  Generative and transformational, or is it not?

5. The afore-mentioned points mean the following: Linguistics is a reliable key to (re-opening) the Gates of Ijtihad.

Mohamed Hammar

1. According to the linguistic “nativist” school led by Pr Noam Chomsky.

2. Which is Chomsky‘s finding that revolutionized language “learning” approaches and methodologies

When referring to the languages I speak they are English, French, Spanish, Italian and Polish which to many may seem like an impressive number but before some get the idea that I should be admired for my linguistic skills I would like to say that this is due more to circumstances then skill. First of all I was born in New York City where I spent the first 3 months before being sent away to live with my grandparents who spoke both Spanish and Italian, so unsurprisingly the languages I started speaking were Spanish and Italian. By the time I was five years of age I spoke both these languages well however I did not speak English at all so it was with this in mind among other things that my parents brought me back to New York where I started learning English. It was strange to me at first; going to school in a country that was my own hearing people speak a language that I did not understand. With time however since I was still at that early age in which languages come with ease; English started becoming more and more comprehensible and in a bigger way it was the cartoons I watched on television which I had already seen in Spanish that helped me. It is because of this factor which I experienced when I learnt English at the age of 5 that I can lay claim that those who are in their very youthful years need not to have languages taught to them as they will learn them their own. It is with this in mind that I urge parents whose wish it is for their children to learn a foreign language or two to simply expose their child to the language as I was by my parents who sent me to a school where everybody spoke English.

Of course when giving this advise I have not lost sight of the fact that not all parents have at their disposal the chance to send their child to a school where the language they want their child to learn is spoken either because they do not live in a country where it is spoken or they don’t have the funds to send their child to a school in which all subjects are carried out in that language. It is to these parents that I suggest that constant exposure to that language by all means at their disposal would be the most appropriate. When I say this I have in mind that parents naturally if they speak the language in question should do so with their children; this basically being the way most people get to speak a language at the start; from their parents.

However to those parents who are not speakers of the language they wish their child or children to learn then I would suggest exposing their child or children to that language by way of television such as “Cartoon Network” or perhaps films on DVD. As an idea to follow first have the child watch the film in his or her first language and then in the second one; repeating this process as many times as possible everyday. To many parents it may seem that their children only waste time when they sit in front of the TV set and to a large degree they do but time spent watching TV need not be a waste of time specially if it can help their child learn a foreign language. I recall in my many years as an E.S.L. (English as a Second Language) teacher; a five year old child. It was this child who spoke fluent English. Naturally making grammatical errors but then again what child his age does not. Regarding his accent I can say in earnest that this child from Warsaw, Poland spoke English with no traces in his accent that would have given away even to a foreign accent trained ear like mine that he was not an American. One might think as I did that this child had spent time in America or another English speaking country or that his parents were English speakers but when I asked the child’s mother she informed that this child had neither set foot in an English speaking nor did she or her husband speak any English what so ever. As far as lessons were concerned he had only had those which were offered at the public school which he attended which did not exceed those that would have taught him the very basics. My curiosity took over my actions at this point making me ask how it was possible for their son to speak English fluently like any American child his own age even without the slightest trace a foreign accent. To this question I was met with the answer that this child watched “Cartoon Network” in English practically 24 hours a day.

If there is an unfortunate side to learning languages it is that those who did not start at a very early age in life for the most part will always be at a disadvantage to those who did. They will tend to speak with an accent that will classified as foreign and for the most part struggle with grammar however I say this not with the aim of dissuading but of informing those who start past the age of 10 that they will have to work harder. Of course this is not to say that they will not learn and learn well but perhaps certain nuances of the language will be lost to them.

Many are the reasons for wanting or needing to learn a language from living in a country to seeking a job to so many others that I will not go over all of them however as many as there be reasons there also be methods. If the later be the case I have found that the “target method” to be the most efficient when the matter be simply learning to communicate. As this is what most people seek to get when they study a language. By communicating I have in mind learning how to understand and be understood in a second language which by its own virtue does not concentrate so much on grammar’s rules but on how one should speak a language using correct grammar without the need to necessarily go over a lot of rules that would not necessarily make one a better speaker. I in my fourteen years as an ESL (English as Second Language) teacher have come to discover that those who know more rules regarding for instance when to use “present perfect” as opposed to when to use “past simple” do not always speak more grammatically correct however it is important to have a basic understanding of the tenses if one is to use them correctly. During the course of this time there is a lot I have taught my students but also a lot which I have discovered for myself from both my students and from teaching them and here are some tips which I would like to provide those who are seeking to learn a language:

-Find a teacher or a school; this is of more importance to total beginners as languages are not like history which can be learnt solely by reading it. Languages require the spoken part which involves learning how words are pronounced in languages that are not always systematically phonetic so for this reason I recommend getting a teacher. For total beginners I also suggest starting in a group because at the start what people are most in need of is repetition. For instance a teacher might begin with each student saying “My name is ___.” and if there should be 20 students in the class then we should hear this sentence repeated just as many times and therefore making it more provable that the sentence will stick in our mind then if we had just heard it repeated twice. Granted groups advance more slowly but the speed in which we cover the material is not the issue but what is, is how much of it we absorb and I noticed specially when I was studying French and Polish how much easier it was to learn things because of the repetitive nature to be found in groups.

-When learning a second language we must think in the language we are trying to learn. There are those however who may say that for beginners this is the neither possible or recommendable but to those I would say that on the contrary it is. The reason I say this is for instance if a person is learning Spanish and the first sentence he is presented with is “Yo me llamo ___.” (My name is ____.) then he or she should say this sentence not translating in to English and then repeating it in Spanish but knowing what the sentence means and simply repeating it. This method perhaps may be slower at first but will pay off in the future because if the student can say the sentence in the language he or she is learning without having to translate in his or her mind this will make it possible for that student to become fluent as that person will be able to speak without thinking of the words. Fluent speaking is when a person gets an idea and can put that idea in to words without thinking of the words because they come automatically. Naturally this does not mean that if a person speaks a language fluently he or she will speak that language correctly as these are two different things. Fluency dealing with how much time passes from the moment the thought enters the mind to the moment the words come out and only this. Many of my students on many occasions have asked me how can they think in the language they are speaking and to them I tell the following. When speaking or repeating a sentence or word in a language one should pretend that the only language one speaks or knows is the language one is trying to speak. In other words one should forget all other languages that one may speak and if one does so speaking a foreign language fluently will be easier ; reason being that translating as one goes along slows one down. This even holds more true when listening to a language for if we had to stop and translate every word in to another language that is being said to us by the time we translated the first word the whole sentence would have gone by so with this in mind I say we should only think in the language we are speaking or listening to forsaking all others.

-To learn a language when we wish to translate a sentence what we should do is translate the general idea of the sentence and not word per word but as a whole for it is there where we see the general idea. For instance in Italian we say “Io me chiamo Gianni” which when translated word per word would be “I call myself Gianni” which in English does not have the same meaning. This however if translated not word per word but the general idea we would get “My name is Gianni”. The reason this stands as truth is that every language is different and not only that words are different but their grammar. Grammar being the order in which we place words. Sometimes however it is not a matter of grammar which in an of itself differs one language from another. As an example I can give that Polish only employs three tenses (present, past and future) and does not have articles, definite or indefinite but the way people speak. For instance in French it is correct to say “J’ ai 40 ans” which when translated directly in to English would be “I have 40 years” which in proper English would be “I am 40 years old”. This proving my point that is not always a question of grammar but of the way people in different languages speak this making it that the same thing is expressed in a different way. As an added example I can give that in Polish the sentence “happy birthday” does not exist but in its place Polish people say (from a literal translation) “all the best wishes”.

-Never ask why! In languages it is not important to know why Polish does not use articles or why English does not have articles that differentiate genders like French which has them in the form or “le” and “la” or why Spanish and Italian do not use the letter “k” to spell any of their own words. What is important is to understand how the language is and speak it as such and not waste time analyzing why it is one way or was made one way and not another. Knowing this; if we could even find out why will not help us speak the language we are trying to learn anymore then knowing why most of us have two instead of three eyes would help us see better. So in short do not worry about why it so just accept it and speak it or write it as such.

Languages do not require thinking or least none that be analytical but the ability to understand a situation and repeat the sentence that explains it to another person. For instance when we say “This is a pen.” we establish what something is and if the object we were establishing were a table then the structure would be the same “This is a table”. These two sentences only requiring us to change one word but not the structure which should not change since the situation has not.

-Do not be afraid to make mistakes. When learning a language mistakes are as unavoidable as is falling down to a child who is learning to walk. If that child or his parents were afraid of their child falling down that child would never learn to walk; same thing with languages. I always tell my students that if they can not avoid mistakes at least they should try to learn from them. One of the reasons people are afraid or perhaps embarrassed about mistakes is what other people might think. This if one logically thinks about should not represent a problem as those who are mindful will understand that the person who is speaking is not a native speaker of that language and will not only understand if that person makes some mistakes but will not think less of that person for doing so.

-Using good grammar is not the most important thing! Unless we are teachers of that language or writers in that language; then grammar is not the most important thing if we just want other people to understand what we are saying. Grammar only becomes an issue when we are misunderstood or not all. For instance if I heard someone say “I had bought a book, yesterday” I would understand that this person bought a book yesterday. This despite the fact that he or she used “past perfect” in a situation when he or she should have used “past simple”. So my advise to those who are speaking a foreign language is to not worry about what is grammatically correct and just to speak.

Practice as much as possible! To learn a language well we need to have at least 20 hours of contact a week with the language. By this I mean taking lessons but they are not enough. For instance if a person took piano lessons this would not be enough to learn the piano as that person would have to have a piano he or she could practice on at home otherwise lessons would not be so beneficial. Having said this what I recommend to those who do not live in a country where the language they want to learn is spoken is to look for as much contact with the language in question as possible. May be in the form of watching television in that language, making friends with people who speak that language or just having a romantic acquaintance that would also contribute to one’s linguistic needs apart from all the rest.

-The four parts to languages are the following: the spoken one, the read one, the written one and listening. To practice the last one all we need is to watch films in that language maybe even with subtitles. With regard to reading this we should practice for the reason that it is the best way for us to expand our vocabulary in the language as we have time to look up the words we do not understand. Writing should be improved by reading because after seeing the words many times this should teach us how to spell them. The speaking perhaps is the hardest to practice as it is most advisable to not do this alone as this would force one to answer oneself.

In all my years as a language teacher and learner of languages it has been my experience that has taught me that when speaking or learning a language as in life all we can do is our best and hope for just that so with this in mind I leave those who should read this with the following thought. It is better to speak a language badly then not at all because if we really think about it how many people speak a language with grammatical perfection even their own let alone a second or a foreign one.

 

The reason I am a writing an article of this sort is because I feel qualified to do so given that I  speak five languages fluently along with having been a teacher of English as a second language in the English Language School which I opened up in Warsaw over 5 years ago. It has been during these past years that I have learnt the secrets of the trade which I now wish to share with those who choose to read this article.  

 

 

When referring to the languages I speak they are English, French, Spanish, Italian and Polish which to many may seem like an impressive number but before some get the idea that I should be admired for my linguistic skills I would like to say that this is due more to circumstances then skill. First of all I was born in New York City where I spent the first 3 months before being sent away to live with my grandparents who spoke both Spanish and Italian, so unsurprisingly the languages I started speaking were Spanish and Italian. By the time I was five years of age I spoke both these languages well however I did not speak English at all so it was with this in mind among other things that my parents brought me back to New York where I started learning English. It was strange to me at first; going to school in a country that was my own hearing people speak a language that I did not understand. With time however since I was still at that early age in which languages come with ease; English started becoming more and more comprehensible and in a bigger way it was the cartoons I watched on television which I had already seen in Spanish that helped me. It is because of this factor which I experienced when I learnt English at the age of 5 that I can lay claim that those who are in their very youthful years need not to have languages taught to them as they will learn them their own. It is with this in mind that I urge parents whose wish it is for their children to learn a foreign language or two to simply expose their child to the language as I was by my parents who sent me to a school where everybody spoke English.

Of course when giving this advise I have not lost sight of the fact that not all parents have at their disposal the chance to send their child to a school where the language they want their child to learn is spoken either because they do not live in a country where it is spoken or they don’t have the funds to send their child to a school in which all subjects are carried out in that language. It is to these parents that I suggest that constant exposure to that language by all means at their disposal would be the most appropriate. When I say this I have in mind that parents naturally if they speak the language in question should do so with their children; this basically being the way most people get to speak a language at the start; from their parents.

However to those parents who are not speakers of the language they wish their child or children to learn then I would suggest exposing their child or children to that language by way of television such as “Cartoon Network” or perhaps films on DVD. As an idea to follow first have the child watch the film in his or her first language and then in the second one; repeating this process as many times as possible everyday. To many parents it may seem that their children only waste time when they sit in front of the TV set and to a large degree they do but time spent watching TV need not be a waste of time specially if it can help their child learn a foreign language. I recall in my many years as an E.S.L. (English as a Second Language) teacher; a five year old child. It was this child who spoke fluent English. Naturally making grammatical errors but then again what child his age does not. Regarding his accent I can say in earnest that this child from Warsaw, Poland spoke English with no traces in his accent that would have given away even to a foreign accent trained ear like mine that he was not an American. One might think as I did that this child had spent time in America or another English speaking country or that his parents were English speakers but when I asked the child’s mother she informed that this child had neither set foot in an English speaking nor did she or her husband speak any English what so ever. As far as lessons were concerned he had only had those which were offered at the public school which he attended which did not exceed those that would have taught him the very basics. My curiosity took over my actions at this point making me ask how it was possible for their son to speak English fluently like any American child his own age even without the slightest trace a foreign accent. To this question I was met with the answer that this child watched “Cartoon Network” in English practically 24 hours a day.

If there is an unfortunate side to learning languages it is that those who did not start at a very early age in life for the most part will always be at a disadvantage to those who did. They will tend to speak with an accent that will classified as foreign and for the most part struggle with grammar however I say this not with the aim of dissuading but of informing those who start past the age of 10 that they will have to work harder. Of course this is not to say that they will not learn and learn well but perhaps certain nuances of the language will be lost to them.

Many are the reasons for wanting or needing to learn a language from living in a country to seeking a job to so many others that I will not go over all of them however as many as there be reasons there also be methods. If the later be the case I have found that the “target method” to be the most efficient when the matter be simply learning to communicate. As this is what most people seek to get when they study a language. By communicating I have in mind learning how to understand and be understood in a second language which by its own virtue does not concentrate so much on grammar’s rules but on how one should speak a language using correct grammar without the need to necessarily go over a lot of rules that would not necessarily make one a better speaker. I in my fourteen years as an ESL (English as Second Language) teacher have come to discover that those who know more rules regarding for instance when to use “present perfect” as opposed to when to use “past simple” do not always speak more grammatically correct however it is important to have a basic understanding of the tenses if one is to use them correctly. During the course of this time there is a lot I have taught my students but also a lot which I have discovered for myself from both my students and from teaching them and here are some tips which I would like to provide those who are seeking to learn a language:

-Find a teacher or a school; this is of more importance to total beginners as languages are not like history which can be learnt solely by reading it. Languages require the spoken part which involves learning how words are pronounced in languages that are not always systematically phonetic so for this reason I recommend getting a teacher. For total beginners I also suggest starting in a group because at the start what people are most in need of is repetition. For instance a teacher might begin with each student saying “My name is ___.” and if there should be 20 students in the class then we should hear this sentence repeated just as many times and therefore making it more provable that the sentence will stick in our mind then if we had just heard it repeated twice. Granted groups advance more slowly but the speed in which we cover the material is not the issue but what is, is how much of it we absorb and I noticed specially when I was studying French and Polish how much easier it was to learn things because of the repetitive nature to be found in groups.

-When learning a second language we must think in the language we are trying to learn. There are those however who may say that for beginners this is the neither possible or recommendable but to those I would say that on the contrary it is. The reason I say this is for instance if a person is learning Spanish and the first sentence he is presented with is “Yo me llamo ___.” (My name is ____.) then he or she should say this sentence not translating in to English and then repeating it in Spanish but knowing what the sentence means and simply repeating it. This method perhaps may be slower at first but will pay off in the future because if the student can say the sentence in the language he or she is learning without having to translate in his or her mind this will make it possible for that student to become fluent as that person will be able to speak without thinking of the words. Fluent speaking is when a person gets an idea and can put that idea in to words without thinking of the words because they come automatically. Naturally this does not mean that if a person speaks a language fluently he or she will speak that language correctly as these are two different things. Fluency dealing with how much time passes from the moment the thought enters the mind to the moment the words come out and only this. Many of my students on many occasions have asked me how can they think in the language they are speaking and to them I tell the following. When speaking or repeating a sentence or word in a language one should pretend that the only language one speaks or knows is the language one is trying to speak. In other words one should forget all other languages that one may speak and if one does so speaking a foreign language fluently will be easier ; reason being that translating as one goes along slows one down. This even holds more true when listening to a language for if we had to stop and translate every word in to another language that is being said to us by the time we translated the first word the whole sentence would have gone by so with this in mind I say we should only think in the language we are speaking or listening to forsaking all others.

-To learn a language when we wish to translate a sentence what we should do is translate the general idea of the sentence and not word per word but as a whole for it is there where we see the general idea. For instance in Italian we say “Io me chiamo Gianni” which when translated word per word would be “I call myself Gianni” which in English does not have the same meaning. This however if translated not word per word but the general idea we would get “My name is Gianni”. The reason this stands as truth is that every language is different and not only that words are different but their grammar. Grammar being the order in which we place words. Sometimes however it is not a matter of grammar which in an of itself differs one language from another. As an example I can give that Polish only employs three tenses (present, past and future) and does not have articles, definite or indefinite but the way people speak. For instance in French it is correct to say “J’ ai 40 ans” which when translated directly in to English would be “I have 40 years” which in proper English would be “I am 40 years old”. This proving my point that is not always a question of grammar but of the way people in different languages speak this making it that the same thing is expressed in a different way. As an added example I can give that in Polish the sentence “happy birthday” does not exist but in its place Polish people say (from a literal translation) “all the best wishes”. 

-Never ask why! In languages it is not important to know why Polish does not use articles or why English does not have articles that differentiate genders like French which has them in the form or “le” and “la” or why Spanish and Italian do not use the letter “k” to spell any of their own words. What is important is to understand how the language is and speak it as such and not waste time analyzing why it is one way or was made one way and not another. Knowing this; if we could even find out why will not help us speak the language we are trying to learn anymore then knowing why most of us have two instead of three eyes would help us see better. So in short do not worry about why it so just accept it and speak it or write it as such.

Languages do not require thinking or least none that be analytical but the ability to understand a situation and repeat the sentence that explains it to another person. For instance when we say “This is a pen.” we establish what something is and if the object we were establishing were a table then the structure would be the same “This is a table”. These two sentences only requiring us to change one word but not the structure which should not change since the situation has not.

-Do not be afraid to make mistakes. When learning a language mistakes are as unavoidable as is falling down to a child who is learning to walk. If that child or his parents were afraid of their child falling down that child would never learn to walk; same thing with languages. I always tell my students that if they can not avoid mistakes at least they should try to learn from them. One of the reasons people are afraid or perhaps embarrassed about mistakes is what other people might think. This if one logically thinks about should not represent a problem as those who are mindful will understand that the person who is speaking is not a native speaker of that language and will not only understand if that person makes some mistakes but will not think less of that person for doing so.

-Using good grammar is not the most important thing! Unless we are teachers of that language or writers in that language; then grammar is not the most important thing if we just want other people to understand what we are saying. Grammar only becomes an issue when we are misunderstood or not all. For instance if I heard someone say “I had bought a book, yesterday” I would understand that this person bought a book yesterday. This despite the fact that he or she used “past perfect” in a situation when he or she should have used “past simple”. So my advise to those who are speaking a foreign language is to not worry about what is grammatically correct and just to speak.

Practice as much as possible! To learn a language well we need to have at least 20 hours of contact a week with the language. By this I mean taking lessons but they are not enough. For instance if a person took piano lessons this would not be enough to learn the piano as that person would have to have a piano he or she could practice on at home otherwise lessons would not be so beneficial. Having said this what I recommend to those who do not live in a country where the language they want to learn is spoken is to look for as much contact with the language in question as possible. May be in the form of watching television in that language, making friends with people who speak that language or just having a romantic acquaintance that would also contribute to one’s linguistic needs apart from all the rest.

-The four parts to languages are the following: the spoken one, the read one, the written one and listening. To practice the last one all we need is to watch films in that language maybe even with subtitles. With regard to reading this we should practice for the reason that it is the best way for us to expand our vocabulary in the language as we have time to look up the words we do not understand. Writing should be improved by reading because after seeing the words many times this should teach us how to spell them. The speaking perhaps is the hardest to practice as it is most advisable to not do this alone as this would force one to answer oneself.

In all my years as a language teacher and learner of languages it has been my experience that has taught me that when speaking or learning a language as in life all we can do is our best and hope for just that so with this in mind I leave those who should read this with the following thought. It is better to speak a language badly then not at all because if we really think about it how many people speak a language with grammatical perfection even their own let alone a second or a foreign one.

 

 

Gaining a rock-solid linguistic self-confidence is essential to master a language and then use it effectively. If you’re too embarrassed to talk or write in your chosen foreign language, all the efforts, time and money you invested in it, were in vain.

Understandably, this evergreen and scorching-hot topic goes beyond the 7 simple truths to help you overcome your shyness from Part 1 of this article. Here are the additional 5 pieces of advice I’d like to give you to instantly increase your linguistic self-confidence:

1. Let go of the past insecurities!



Past experiences often influence the present, so any linguistic (or other) insecurity you acquired as a result of a parent, relative, teacher or fellow-student telling you you were not talented for languages (or something else) needs to go. Erase those judgemental comments and start believing in yourself. You really can’t let people from your past ruin the bold goals you’re more than capable of achieving!

2. Surround yourself with native audio, video and written materials!



Familiarize with the rhythm and the melody of your target language by surrounded yourself with learning materials, produced by native speakers of that language – original movies, songs, literature – you name it! And when you read, make sure you know how the words are pronounced. If any doubt arises, consult the dictionary and/or ask a native speaker to help you.

3. Play with the language – have FUN while learning!



If you’re not willing to play around with the language you’re learning, you’ll get bored very quickly. And that’s BAD news, since boredom – as you probably experienced at least once in your life – leads to a progressive (or abrupt) abandonment of any further learning effort. So, make sure you’re having fun. Invent revision games, such as the association chain (start with a word and find another that reminds you of the first one, and then continue searching for words that can be linked to the previous one by rhyme, meaning or some other characteristic), the vocabulary mindmapping or some sort of a memory challenge. These fun exercises are excellent to become quick on your feet and thus strengthen your self-confidence in conversations or written communications.

4. Learn basic facts about the language and its accents!



By arming yourself with the basic facts about a language – different accents in different geographic areas included – you’ll see the extensive myriad of nuances and variations in pronounciation and expressions every language displays with great pride. And you’ll most likely feel relieved, because you’ll finally see that something that might sound strange in a certain environment, might be used as a standard in another. That alone sheds a whole new light on the concept of ‘mistake’, doesn’t it?

5. When speaking/writing gets too uncomfortable, simplify!



Be bold and start using the learnt vocabulary as soon as possible – as explained in Part 1 of this article. However, if you become too nervous and the search for the right expression hinders your communication with the other person, simplify your sentences. Sometimes, it’s far more important to boost your self-confidence than work on your vocabulary. Remember that, and don’t be too hard on yourself if your progress isn’t as fast as you want it to be. The mere fact you’re moving forward makes you a winner already!

by Philip Yaffe

Some time ago, a friend and I decided to try to establish guidelines for building a “perfect language” that ultimately could be adopted as the world’s common language. We did not intend to create such a language. We just wanted to lay down standards against which any candidates for this high office (living, dead or artificial) could be objectively judged.

Our primary criterion was that it should be easy to learn.

We started from what we called the Facility Principle: What you don’t have to do is always easier than what you do have to do. We wanted to find out what is really basic to language, i.e. what elements are fundamental, what felements are secondary, and what elements are entirely unnecessary. This we would use to judge how close existing languages came, or how to create an artificial language that virtually everyone could rapidly learn and use.

Our method was to identify what elements could be removed without fundamentally damaging a language’s capacity to communicate. To ensure that we would not “over-intellectualize”, we decided to test our ideas by finding at least one language, living or dead, that did not possess the element we thought could be safely deleted. If we found such a language, we would know that this feature truly wasn’t absolutely essential. Between the two us, we were fluent in or had working knowledge of Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swahili, so these were our reference points.

We started with irregularities. Few people would argue that irregular verbs are fundamentally necessary in order to communicate, so our perfect language should have no irregular verbs. Does such a language exist? Yes, Swahili has no irregular verbs. If you can conjugate one verb in that language, you can conjugate them all, and in all tenses.

We also looked at irregular spellings. Clearly, a phonetically spelled language would be easier to learn than a non-phonetic one. Just consider all the endless hours French-speaking school children spend with their “dictées” and English-speaking children spend with their “spelling bees”. Although they are disguised as games and competitions, their real purpose is to help children master the thoroughly chaotic misuse of the alphabet in their native tongues.

Does a phonetic language in fact exist? German comes very close, and so do Italian and Spanish. Swahili, however, is fully phonetic. If you can say a word in that language, you can spell it, and if you can read it, you can say it.

We also immediately dismissed noun genders; English lives without them very nicely. What about pronouns? They too are not fundamental; in Italian and Spanish they are hardly ever used.

We even discovered languages that make no distinction between singular and plural. At first, we had difficulty accepting this because singulars and plurals just seemed to be so basic. However, eliminating them makes perfect sense.

Why should a language constantly distinguish between one of a thing and two to infinity? To say “I see a dog” clearly means that I see only one of them. But to say “I see dogs” is undefined. It could be two, ten, twenty, a hundred, a thousand, a million, etc. Some languages define “singular” not as one, but one, two or three. “Plural” then means anything from four to infinity.

By establishing this set of considerations, did we create an ideal blueprint for producing a clear, concise, easy-to-learn universal language? Actually no. We thought we did; however, it turns out that the Facility Principle has a fatal flaw.

When we consulted a linguist during our investigations, he pointed out that it may be possible to eliminate a grammatical feature in a language only because it contains another feature that compensates. But this would not be true of all languages. Thus, eliminating something from Language A because it adds nothing to communication could be crucially important in Language B, where its absence would damage communication.

We were not discouraged, but we decided to change direction. Despite the flaw of the Facility Principle, we still felt that irregular spellings had little to recommend them. However, since we could not necessarily eliminate them based solely on the Facility Principle, we looked around for another principle that would allow us to exclude them. This we called the “Comprehension Principle”.

The Comprehension Principle states: What is not important for communication in the spoken language should be even less important in the written language.

This is only common sense. When we are in a conversation, we must understand what the other person is saying instantaneously, and vice versa. We cannot stop every couple of seconds to have something repeated to be certain that we have correctly grasped its meaning. If we did, conversation would be impossible.

When we read, if we have a problem understanding something, we can always look at it again and study it, which is not the case when we speak. It therefore seems logical that the written language should be simpler and more straightforward than the spoken language.

In English, French and some other languages, it is just the opposite. The written language is very much more complex than the spoken language. According to the Comprehension Principle, all of the things in the written language that are not in the spoken language are not necessary for communication. Therefore, they can be considered merely decorative and expendable.

This brings us back to phonetic spelling.

If a word is not written the way it is pronounced, what purpose does it serve? Very little; in fact it is counterproductive. As argued by no less an authority than Voltaire (1771): “Writing is the portrait of the voice; the more they resemble each other, the better (L’ecriture est la peinture de la voix; plus elle est resemblante, mieux elle est.)”

Nevertheless, it is amazing how ferociously some people will defend chaotic spellings. One of the principal arguments is that current spelling is a “conveyor belt of culture”. Thus, we spell “pharmacy” with “ph” to remind us that the word is derived from Greek, and we spell “farmer” with an “f” to remind us that this word isn’t. But why should the way we write a word reflect its origin? Language is for communication; it should avoid useless complications such as non-phonetic spelling. “Phonetic” itself should be spelled with an “f” as it is in Dutch, Italian and Spanish. Its Greek origin is of interest mainly to linguists but it shouldn’t be imposed on the rest of us.

When the written language loses touch with the spoken language, it also loses touch with reality. Even the august Academie Française now permits elimination of the “accent circumflex” (the little hat) in many words where it serves only to remind us that in Old French there used to be an “s” in the word which is no longer there. It is also introducing numerous other reforms to make the language more consistent and less of a barrier to clear communication.

One article I read opposing spelling reform in English concluded with the startling statement: “Spelling is beautiful. Believe it”.

Spelling is not beautiful; it is a tool. As with any tool, loading it with useless complications can only reduce its effectiveness, not enhance it. In writing, the only thing that is beautiful is a well-structured, well-crafted text. Judging writing by how well the author masters chaotic spelling is like judging a painting by how well the artist works with defective brushes.

If the language-proud French can reform their spelling, surely we English-speakers can do likewise. And the sooner, the better.

Philip Yaffe is a former reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street Journal and a marketing communication consultant. He currently teaches a course in good writing and good speaking in Brussels, Belgium. His recently published book In the “I” of the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional is available from Story Publishers in Ghent, Belgium (storypublishers.be) and Amazon (amazon.com).

For further information, contact:

Philip Yaffe

Brussels, Belgium

Tel: +32 (0)2 660 0405

Email: phil.yaffe@yahoo.com,phil.yaffe@gmail.com

Interpreting and translation services nowadays are more important than ever. Interpreting from one language into another became a highly demanding occupation.

Globalization removes all kinds of boundaries, dispersing information barriers between continents, countries and even between the real and virtual worlds, which results in a continuous flow of information.

Interpreting and translation services in this context are therefore vital in gaining consumer understanding. It is fare to say that if the consumer doesn’t understand the information relayed to them then such information becomes redundant. However when the information is being rendered from its source into the target language then the consumers are able to understand. Then it becomes a totally different scenario.

As a result the role of a professional linguist becomes invaluable in this process. Therefore interpreting and translating are extremely essential services in today’s information age.

Linguistic services are required to organize discussions for business planning. In addition linguistic services are necessary for visiting a specialist and for the rapid exchange of knowledge underpinned by globalisation. By using quality linguistic services that renders information from one language into another in most cases guarantees the successful outcome of many business ventures.  

In historical times most cross border merchants needed someone to interpret and to communicate with one another in order to establish their success in negotiating trades. The success was due to the fact that the cultural barriers were completely removed by the interpreters (cultural breakers) in making deals that suited both parties.

Today, linguistic services are provided by many firms. It is particularly worth a closer look at express linguist (www.expresslinguist.co.uk), their expertise and fields of work covering a wide range of interpreting services such as face to face, simultaneous and consecutive that would suit any occasion or event. This could be your first step in the world of knowledge and information.    

 

 

Sign language is a rule-governed language that has its own grammatical rules and symbol system. As such, it meets all the requirements of spoken languages abolishing any dispute as to whether it is really a language or not. The work of William C. Stokoe Jr. ‘Sign Language Structure’ (1960) is the first linguistic analysis of sign language that has actually formed the basis on the later field of research.

Functioning exactly like human languages, sign language substitutes acoustic sounds for hand movements, facial expressions and body postures, forming individual signs of communication. In spoken languages, people use vowels and consonants to form parts and they identify with sound units to form minimal pairs. By using minimal pairs, in effect, they change sounds and they give different meanings to words. For instance, they can spell ‘fit’, ‘sit’, or ‘bit’ and mean three different, unique things. In sign language, instead of using vowels and consonants, parts are formed by hand movements, handshapes, and hand locations. To form a whole new word with a whole new meaning, signers change the location or the movement of a sign since they do not have sounds to spell. Therefore, the most important point that distinguishes sign language from spoken languages is the fact that each sign is formed by a unique combination of a hand movement, handshape, and hand location ranging from the use of simple to more complex ones.

Similarly to spoken languages that words are pronounced differently depending on the geographic location or the background of people, sign language has also the same type and range of variation. Research has identified regional, ethnic, gender and age variations in sign language.

Regional variations are mostly related to how signers from different regions of the U.S. or from different countries of the world use different signs to articulate meanings such as ‘birthday’, ‘Christmas’ or ‘ Halloween’.

Ethnic variations are related to how signers of different racial or ethnic descent sign. For instance, Black signers from the South sign differently than White signers from the South.

Gender variations are related to how male signers use different forms of sign than female signers.

Age variations are related to how older signers sign differently than younger signers.

Another linguistic consideration of sign language that is similar to spoken language is the sentence type. In spoken languages, the speaker uses different intonation to distinguish between a question, a statement or a command. Similarly, in sign language, the signer uses different signs to indicate grammatical information that conveys the meaning of a statement, command, or any other type of sentence.

Without any doubt, sign language is a self-governing linguistic system that demonstrates all the characteristics and the complex structure of spoken languages. Anyone who is interested in learning the true grammar and syntax of sign language, there are quite some interesting degrees offered by esteemed universities such as Gallaudet University, Boston University and University of New Mexico.